Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Quicksand

Spiraling deeper into one of the worst slumps in recent history, the Phillies capped of a horrible road trip today by getting swept by the Braves in a 3-game series.They were also swept by the Mets in this same road trip, which ended with a record of 2 wins and 7 losses.The Phillies look so bad, it appears they are standing in quick sand; the harder they struggle, the deeper they become buried in the abyss.

When I saw Chase Utley ground into a double play today with 1 out and the bases loaded, I knew this may be a sign of the apocalypse.Utley normally waits until he sees a strike to swing, but in this instance, he swung at ball 2 and murdered a potential game winning inning.Utley is not the type of player who does this, but in his last 7 games and 26 at-bats, he has only 3 hits.

Basically the same thing can be said for the entire team; but how does an entire team go into a slump all at once?I had once thought this was impossible; someone must be hitting, right?Nope.They have scored only 14 runs in their last 11 games after leading the entire league in runs scored.

Plus, good pitching has gone to waste, like today with Kyle Kendrick who did an outstanding job.Maybe Jose Contreras does not like Kendrick, because the only two games he has lost all year have been started by Kendrick.With a 1-1 tie, Contreras gave up a run and the game.And all that after poor Kyle pitched 7 innings of 1 run ball.

The Phillies have a day off tomorrow to try and figure out what ails them.If they come back on Friday and score a bunch of runs, ok fine.But if they flop again, I do believe it will officially be time to panic.Here are just a few suggestions to the Phillies for their off-day in order to relax and loosen things up a bit:

1 – Go to the zoo and pet something furry; just make sure it is not Jayson Werth before you do.If you are Jayson Werth, what can I say…feel free.

2 – Find Howard Eskin and punch him in the face; you know you want to.

3 – See how many marshmallows you can fit in your mouth at one time.

4 – Pick up a Sports Illustrated and draw devil horns on players of other teams.

5 – Stand in front of the ballpark and then ask people for directions to the ballpark.

6 – Call Larry Bowa and ask him to cuss you out.That always makes me giggle so it is worth a try.

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